A raggedy-looking soldier of Shu walked across the wooden walls of a
small outpost station north of Hanzhong. His war-hardened face was tired
from a continuous pace from noon till now, when the sun was beginning its
slow descent. He opened his canteen and took a quick drink from it, before
closing it again and saving it for later. While doing so, he wiped sweat
off his face and checked his spear for any splinters for the tenth time
during his sentry duty. As he began to begin pacing, he noticed a red glare
coming from the horizon. Squinting, he saw nothing, and assuming the light
was playing tricks, he resumed pacing again.
Ten minutes later, he was still parading smartly around the top of the wall when suddenly he heard a scream come from below, from one of the soldiers building defenses outside of the outpost. Hastily, he rushed to the edge of the wall and looked down. What he saw made his jaw drop and his eyes reflect terror. Before he could do anything, a flaming arrow whistled and struck him squarely on the forehead, and he dropped to the ground dead.
"ATTACK! ATTACK!!" yelled out a soldier from behind the small gate guarding the camp, which was being battered by a ram outside. Suddenly, the gate banged open, and the soldiers readying themselves at the camp cowered and ran for their lives as a demonic army swept them from their camp. A slaughter continued afterwards, and about 2/3's of the camp were killed. The rest of the soldiers fled back to Hanzhong, which was a good 2 days trip on foot.
*************** "Hah! I have won again, Ma Liang!" cried Zhuge Liang as he made his final, checkmate move. "Your Excellency's intelligence knows no bounds," praised Ma Liang, bowing and saluting him. "That's probably not the reason Ma. It's probably because you still haven't learned my tactics yet," smiled Kongming (Kongming is Zhuge Liang's style, for those who don't know). "Would you like another game sir?" asked Ma Liang. "No, I'm fine. I would like to a stroll outside and take a look at the reign of peace that has finally fallen over China." With those words, Zhuge Kongming stood up and took his leave.
Previously that year, Guan Yu had defeated Wei's and Wu's forces at Fancheng, and so he had lived. Liu Bei proposed an alliance with Wu, and together they stormed off to invade Wei. Cao Cao's armies were defeated numerous times until he finally pushed Wu and Shu off with an incredible expedition where his forces broke through and raided Hanzhong, forcing Shu to back off and Wu's forces to be defeated from Wei's remaining forces. The three kingdoms agreed to a truce of peace and they promised to uphold it as long as they can. The emperor was finally relieved and the land was prosperous again. Who knows how long the truce would last?
As Zhuge Kongming was walking outside near his garden, he suddenly heard cries coming from afar. Peering towards the horizon, he saw twenty lone figures running as fast as they could to Hanzhong, shouting the words, "Prime Minister! Prime Minister!" Zhuge Liang quickly received them as they spoke in quick, breathless words, "Attack. Attack on the outpost. Most killed. Evil army." They were all raggedy, thin, and dirty. Their faces were torn with fear and exhaustion. "Calm down now soldiers. Now, I want you to tell me this all over again, in full sentences," soothed Kongming. One soldier, who finally caught his breath, spoke up, "We were doing our normal daily routine when suddenly a massive force overran our outpost. It was a horrible army sir; they had faces of monsters, and bodies of beasts. We couldn't fight back. They came too swiftly."
As Kongming, puzzled, pondered over this, a man suddenly popped out of nowhere, as if by magic. Kongming was even more startled, and asked the man for who he was and what he was doing here. "My name is Hatch. I come from a faraway land, which has been attacked by this army your soldiers speak of. I've come to warn you and tell you about these monsters."
Hatch was a short, stocky man of a sturdy build. His narrow, dark eyes were enough to stare down a bear. His face was war-hardened, and seemed as though he never smiled before. His hair was unusually brown instead of black. Confused by his appearance and the words he spoke, Kongming quickly recovered his normal stance and inquired curiously, "Just what are these things you speak about that ravage our land and destroy our forces?" "What I speak about is an army from Hell. Those monsters your men probably saw were fire orcs, the most common type of soldiers in the Hell army. There are even worst ones that your men either never saw, or saw one but were killed in the attack. They are the demons, commanders of the army from Hell. The lieutenants to the leader of the army are called Hellfire."
*********** "I have called all you lords here to say something important, and to propose an alliance," spoke Liu Bei. After Hatch's conversation with Kongming, Hatch had followed Zhuge to Liu Bei, and reported exactly what he told to the Sleeping Dragon ("Sleeping Dragon" is Zhuge Liang's nickname). Xuande (Xuande is Liu Bei's style), alarmed, quickly called up his attendants to devise a plan for holding them off. Ma Liang suggested an alliance against the Hell army with help from Cao Cao and Sun Quan. Thinking this an excellent idea, Liu Bei had called up Cao Cao and Sun Quan and their top advisors to invite them to a banquet. Kongming prepared a speech for Bei to speak at the meeting.
"After many years of peace, the time has finally come to draw our weapons and armor," continued Liu Bei. "However, we will not rip each other's bodies out with these weapons. Instead, the blades of swords, the points of spears, shall pierce a demonic foe and send them back to where they belong!" Cao Cao and Sun Quan looked at each other, confused, and replied, "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke?" Liu Bei slowly said, "No, though I wish it was. Let me tell you." Bei told them about the army from Hell that had come to invade China and destroy all.
Sun Quan paled at the sound of this, for he was a superstitious man and took this very seriously. However, Cao Cao just laughed, for he was not as superstitious as Sun Quan. Still laughing, he said, "So, this council was all for jest? All jest, gossip, and fun and games? Haha! I should've brought some kind of court jester then!" After these words, he glared at Liu Bei. "I travel all this way with my advisors, making many plans back at Xuchang before I left, and all that for a council of jest?! I cannot believe it! You liar!" Liu Bei looked at him, not breaking eye contact. Cao Cao suddenly realized that Liu Bei was telling the truth from the look of his eyes. Sun Quan, who was beginning to feel that everything was fake at Cao Cao's words, suddenly became pale again. Cao Cao sat down, stunned, with a long while of silence. Finally Zhuge Liang spoke up, "Our main purpose for this council is to form an alliance against this hellish foe. I, speaking for my lord Liu Bei, would like to propose that alliance to settle this matter once and for all." The other lords spoke with their advisors, and finally they said, "Agreed." "So let us officially form this alliance and write our pact in blood!" cried Liu Bei. A roll of parchment was rolled out, and Bei began writing the speech after cutting his finger with a knife. Then, Cao Cao and Sun Quan cut their fingers a little and signed their names on it.
Quickly after the signing, Kongming proposed a council of war, where the lords discussed a strategy. It was finally decided that Liu Bei would bring his forces as the vanguard and meet the Hell army at Hanzhong. Meanwhile, Cao Cao will outflank the Hell army and Sun Quan would reinforce Liu Bei at Hanzhong. "However, we still need a leader for our cause," said Sima Yi. As if by call of a leader was sent out, Hatch appeared magically at the doorway of the banquet hall. "I would like to accept that leadership," he said softly. Cao and Quan looked surprised, and asked who he was. Kongming explained to them that Hatch was the one who gave us the information about the Hell army and had experience against them before. Cao and Quan, expected to make a bad remark about Hatch's strange appearance and about being led by a stranger, instead were grateful for an experienced leader who would lead them against the Hell army.
"Would you happen to know the size of this Hell army?" asked Mengde (Mengde is Cao Cao's style). Hatch promptly replied, "2 million fire orcs, 1000 demons, and 5 Hellfire." The whole assembly were so shocked that not one of their eyelids blinked. Recovering, Quan said, "Do we have a chance against that army?" Hatch slowly answered, "You have a very slim chance. But if we use good strategy and outsmart them, we could win." Breathing sighs of relief, the whole assembly turned to the three main advisors: Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, and Lu Xun as though they carried the whole burden of defeating the Hell army, and they did.
The council continued, and it finally ended with one last question, "What level of strategy does the enemy have?" inquired Mengde. "Well, we're going to need a lot of brains and work to figure out how to defeat the enemy. The devil's pretty smart you know," said Hatch. Again, the whole council was stunned at Hatch's last phrase. "Did I say something wrong?" puzzled Hatch. This time, it was Kongming who recovered. "Are you telling me that the Hell army is led by the devil himself?" With sudden realization why everyone was so shocked, Hatch, hesitant, spoke the word the struck fear in every heart there and that was dreaded the most by all lords, "Yes."
Ten minutes later, he was still parading smartly around the top of the wall when suddenly he heard a scream come from below, from one of the soldiers building defenses outside of the outpost. Hastily, he rushed to the edge of the wall and looked down. What he saw made his jaw drop and his eyes reflect terror. Before he could do anything, a flaming arrow whistled and struck him squarely on the forehead, and he dropped to the ground dead.
"ATTACK! ATTACK!!" yelled out a soldier from behind the small gate guarding the camp, which was being battered by a ram outside. Suddenly, the gate banged open, and the soldiers readying themselves at the camp cowered and ran for their lives as a demonic army swept them from their camp. A slaughter continued afterwards, and about 2/3's of the camp were killed. The rest of the soldiers fled back to Hanzhong, which was a good 2 days trip on foot.
*************** "Hah! I have won again, Ma Liang!" cried Zhuge Liang as he made his final, checkmate move. "Your Excellency's intelligence knows no bounds," praised Ma Liang, bowing and saluting him. "That's probably not the reason Ma. It's probably because you still haven't learned my tactics yet," smiled Kongming (Kongming is Zhuge Liang's style, for those who don't know). "Would you like another game sir?" asked Ma Liang. "No, I'm fine. I would like to a stroll outside and take a look at the reign of peace that has finally fallen over China." With those words, Zhuge Kongming stood up and took his leave.
Previously that year, Guan Yu had defeated Wei's and Wu's forces at Fancheng, and so he had lived. Liu Bei proposed an alliance with Wu, and together they stormed off to invade Wei. Cao Cao's armies were defeated numerous times until he finally pushed Wu and Shu off with an incredible expedition where his forces broke through and raided Hanzhong, forcing Shu to back off and Wu's forces to be defeated from Wei's remaining forces. The three kingdoms agreed to a truce of peace and they promised to uphold it as long as they can. The emperor was finally relieved and the land was prosperous again. Who knows how long the truce would last?
As Zhuge Kongming was walking outside near his garden, he suddenly heard cries coming from afar. Peering towards the horizon, he saw twenty lone figures running as fast as they could to Hanzhong, shouting the words, "Prime Minister! Prime Minister!" Zhuge Liang quickly received them as they spoke in quick, breathless words, "Attack. Attack on the outpost. Most killed. Evil army." They were all raggedy, thin, and dirty. Their faces were torn with fear and exhaustion. "Calm down now soldiers. Now, I want you to tell me this all over again, in full sentences," soothed Kongming. One soldier, who finally caught his breath, spoke up, "We were doing our normal daily routine when suddenly a massive force overran our outpost. It was a horrible army sir; they had faces of monsters, and bodies of beasts. We couldn't fight back. They came too swiftly."
As Kongming, puzzled, pondered over this, a man suddenly popped out of nowhere, as if by magic. Kongming was even more startled, and asked the man for who he was and what he was doing here. "My name is Hatch. I come from a faraway land, which has been attacked by this army your soldiers speak of. I've come to warn you and tell you about these monsters."
Hatch was a short, stocky man of a sturdy build. His narrow, dark eyes were enough to stare down a bear. His face was war-hardened, and seemed as though he never smiled before. His hair was unusually brown instead of black. Confused by his appearance and the words he spoke, Kongming quickly recovered his normal stance and inquired curiously, "Just what are these things you speak about that ravage our land and destroy our forces?" "What I speak about is an army from Hell. Those monsters your men probably saw were fire orcs, the most common type of soldiers in the Hell army. There are even worst ones that your men either never saw, or saw one but were killed in the attack. They are the demons, commanders of the army from Hell. The lieutenants to the leader of the army are called Hellfire."
*********** "I have called all you lords here to say something important, and to propose an alliance," spoke Liu Bei. After Hatch's conversation with Kongming, Hatch had followed Zhuge to Liu Bei, and reported exactly what he told to the Sleeping Dragon ("Sleeping Dragon" is Zhuge Liang's nickname). Xuande (Xuande is Liu Bei's style), alarmed, quickly called up his attendants to devise a plan for holding them off. Ma Liang suggested an alliance against the Hell army with help from Cao Cao and Sun Quan. Thinking this an excellent idea, Liu Bei had called up Cao Cao and Sun Quan and their top advisors to invite them to a banquet. Kongming prepared a speech for Bei to speak at the meeting.
"After many years of peace, the time has finally come to draw our weapons and armor," continued Liu Bei. "However, we will not rip each other's bodies out with these weapons. Instead, the blades of swords, the points of spears, shall pierce a demonic foe and send them back to where they belong!" Cao Cao and Sun Quan looked at each other, confused, and replied, "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke?" Liu Bei slowly said, "No, though I wish it was. Let me tell you." Bei told them about the army from Hell that had come to invade China and destroy all.
Sun Quan paled at the sound of this, for he was a superstitious man and took this very seriously. However, Cao Cao just laughed, for he was not as superstitious as Sun Quan. Still laughing, he said, "So, this council was all for jest? All jest, gossip, and fun and games? Haha! I should've brought some kind of court jester then!" After these words, he glared at Liu Bei. "I travel all this way with my advisors, making many plans back at Xuchang before I left, and all that for a council of jest?! I cannot believe it! You liar!" Liu Bei looked at him, not breaking eye contact. Cao Cao suddenly realized that Liu Bei was telling the truth from the look of his eyes. Sun Quan, who was beginning to feel that everything was fake at Cao Cao's words, suddenly became pale again. Cao Cao sat down, stunned, with a long while of silence. Finally Zhuge Liang spoke up, "Our main purpose for this council is to form an alliance against this hellish foe. I, speaking for my lord Liu Bei, would like to propose that alliance to settle this matter once and for all." The other lords spoke with their advisors, and finally they said, "Agreed." "So let us officially form this alliance and write our pact in blood!" cried Liu Bei. A roll of parchment was rolled out, and Bei began writing the speech after cutting his finger with a knife. Then, Cao Cao and Sun Quan cut their fingers a little and signed their names on it.
Quickly after the signing, Kongming proposed a council of war, where the lords discussed a strategy. It was finally decided that Liu Bei would bring his forces as the vanguard and meet the Hell army at Hanzhong. Meanwhile, Cao Cao will outflank the Hell army and Sun Quan would reinforce Liu Bei at Hanzhong. "However, we still need a leader for our cause," said Sima Yi. As if by call of a leader was sent out, Hatch appeared magically at the doorway of the banquet hall. "I would like to accept that leadership," he said softly. Cao and Quan looked surprised, and asked who he was. Kongming explained to them that Hatch was the one who gave us the information about the Hell army and had experience against them before. Cao and Quan, expected to make a bad remark about Hatch's strange appearance and about being led by a stranger, instead were grateful for an experienced leader who would lead them against the Hell army.
"Would you happen to know the size of this Hell army?" asked Mengde (Mengde is Cao Cao's style). Hatch promptly replied, "2 million fire orcs, 1000 demons, and 5 Hellfire." The whole assembly were so shocked that not one of their eyelids blinked. Recovering, Quan said, "Do we have a chance against that army?" Hatch slowly answered, "You have a very slim chance. But if we use good strategy and outsmart them, we could win." Breathing sighs of relief, the whole assembly turned to the three main advisors: Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, and Lu Xun as though they carried the whole burden of defeating the Hell army, and they did.
The council continued, and it finally ended with one last question, "What level of strategy does the enemy have?" inquired Mengde. "Well, we're going to need a lot of brains and work to figure out how to defeat the enemy. The devil's pretty smart you know," said Hatch. Again, the whole council was stunned at Hatch's last phrase. "Did I say something wrong?" puzzled Hatch. This time, it was Kongming who recovered. "Are you telling me that the Hell army is led by the devil himself?" With sudden realization why everyone was so shocked, Hatch, hesitant, spoke the word the struck fear in every heart there and that was dreaded the most by all lords, "Yes."